The purpose of the Environmental Protection (Water and Wetland Biodiversity) Policy 2019 (EPP Water and Wetland Biodiversity) is to achieve the objectives of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act) in protecting Queensland’s water environment while allowing for ecologically sustainable development.

Environmental values and water quality objectives

The EPP Water and Wetland Biodiversity sets out the environmental values (EVs) and water quality objectives (WQOs) for all Queensland waters.

• EVs define the uses of water by aquatic ecosystems and humans (e.g. drinking water, irrigation, aquaculture, recreation).
• WQOs define the objectives for the water’s physical, chemical and biological characteristics (e.g. nitrogen content, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, toxicants, fish).
• Locally derived EVs and WQO are being progressively determined for Queensland waters to inform environmental decision-making (see the map below).

Where the Queensland Government have derived the EVs and WQOs for specific Queensland waters, they are set out in Schedule 1 of the EPP Water and Wetland Biodiversity. This schedule is a part of the legislation. Therefore, planners and managers must consider it when making decisions about waters and water quality.

EVs and WQOs can be used in several ways in legislative and non-legislative decision-making. Once scheduled, they inform:

• planning and decision-making for development under the EP Act (e.g. point source environmentally relevant activities)
• local government planning and decision-making for urban land development under the State Planning Policy (Water Quality State Interest - Planning Act)
• best practice management approaches to address diffuse emissions from rural lands
• development of report cards on aquatic ecosystem health
• catchment-scale management planning and decisions by non-legislative Regional NRM bodies.

The most recent waters included in Schedule 1 are the South East Queensland Basins; Burdekin, Haughton and Don Basins and Mackay Whitsunday Basins, approved in 2022.